Tooth strengthening, or remineralization, naturally occurs through the deposition of salivary minerals such as calcium and phosphate. It has been realized that the addition of fluoride can expedite the remineralization process. Additionally, the chemical interaction of fluoride with tooth mineral yields a benefit enjoyed by fluoridated enamel, insofar that it is less soluble than non-fluoridated enamel. Therefore, fluoridation continues to be an effective dental agent against mineral loss. Nevertheless, statistics continue to reveal that tooth decay remains problematic. Thus, improving remineralization remains a challenging problem and opportunity.
It has been realized that the addition of metal ions and/or minerals to fluoride can improve remineralization benefits. For example, a functionalized tricalcium phosphate system with or without fluoride can contribute to improved dentition remineralization. Likewise, the use of a milk-derived calcium phosphate system may be useful for mineralization purposes. Still another example is the use of nano-sized hydroxyapatite in combination with fluoride. Yet another example is the provision of amorphous calcium phosphate to dentition, with or without fluoride. Separately, fluoride combined with metal ions such as iron, titanium or tin may also provide improved dental benefits relative to fluoride alone.
While the above-mentioned approaches may provide benefits, nevertheless tooth decay remains problematic. Often, combination systems may not provide sufficient mineral integration with the tooth. One reason is due to the undesirable interactions between calcium and fluoride that can occur in an aqueous dental preparation. Often, dental preparations are designed to be compartmentalized or prepared in the absence of water to reduce the unwanted calcium-fluoride interactions during shelf-life. When the minerals are ultimately released in the oral cavity, in addition to reacting with the tooth, the minerals also react with each other, thus reducing bioavailability and uptake into the tooth structure. This limited remineralization is one drawback from some of the calcium and phosphate-based approaches. Additionally, the limited remineralization that does occur may break down, rendering the tooth susceptible to repeated acid-attack. Separately, the use of metallic species may not provide acceptable aesthetic or sensory qualities, and may contribute elevated risk factors for patient populations prescribed with certain medications.
Since basic tooth structure is apatite-like and is therefore comprised of calcium and phosphate elements, and since saliva contains both calcium and phosphate, it is commonplace and expected to include calcium with phosphate for the remineralization of dental tissues. During demineralization both calcium and phosphate are lost from the tooth. Since the loss of mineral is not slanted towards calcium or phosphate, therapeutic approaches involve supplying new sources of calcium and phosphate (with or without fluoride) to the weakened tooth structure.
Thus, there remains a need for a dental remineralization strategy that does not suffer the shortcomings of premature metal-fluoride interactions during shelf-life. The present novel technology addresses this. In this disclosure, we describe a non-obvious, unique approach of strengthening weakened teeth. In doing so, the approach avoids the weaknesses of many of calcium-added dental preparations, while improving on the remineralization of the teeth.